1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for suspending an article of clothing, and the like, from a supporting structure, and more particularly to an apparatus operable to deploy a plenary number of caps in an appropriate attitude to permit the brow portions thereof to be exposed for purposes of display.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the last decade it has become quite popular for businesses and a variety of other organizations, to advertize their products or services by printing their groups slogans, trademarks, advertisements or messages onto the brow portion of lightweight, baseball-type caps and thereafter distribute, or sell these caps to their individual members or customers. This form of advertisement, for example, has become quite popular with respect to college and professional athletic teams, especially professional baseball and football franchises.
Recently, it has become quite popular for sports enthusiasts, and others, to collect these baseball caps, adorned with their sundry advertising slogans and designs and thereafter to hold them for purposes of display. Until quite recently, no convenient and inexpensive method had been devised to display these cap collections apart from the obvious method of constructing shelves which are somewhat expensive to purchase and usually require time-consuming installation.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to manufacture devices operable to deploy various caps and assorted headware for purposes of display and sale. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,153 to Hilty, et al. discloses a clothing suspension apparatus which is operable for supporting a plurality of caps. In this regard this clothing suspension apparatus includes a substantially elongated support member and a plurality of button engagement assemblies. Each of these button engagement assemblies is supported in a predetermined orientation, by the support member, and is operable to slidably receive a button affixed on the crown portion of a cap for suspending the cap thereof. This cap suspension apparatus possesses numerous advantages over the previous prior art practices and related devices. For instance, several prior art patents have shown devices with frame like members adapted to hold a derby-like hat in such a manner that the caps can be conveniently stacked within each other on a display case for sale.
Other attempts in the prior art to provide devices adapted to deploy various garments such as headware have included, for example, U-shaped spring-biased hat rim engaging members which are operable to engage the hat rim and thereby cause the deployment of the remainder of the cap in an appropriate attitude.
While the prior art devices including that disclosed in the Hilty et al. reference have operated with varying degrees of success, they are unsatisfactory in one or more respects. For example, some of the prior art devices are cumbersome, difficult to retain in position and do not admit to convenient, easy deployment in confined quarters, for instance. Others, either do not admit to convenient deployment of baseball-type caps or are otherwise oversized and unsightly in use. Furthermore, some of these devices can only be employed by the use of a permanent fixture or specially adapted mounting mechanism. Yet another deficiency common in the prior art devices and practices is their obvious inability to be manufactured and sold at a relatively inexpensive price. Still another shortcoming attendant with the prior art devices such as that disclosed in the Hilty U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,153 is the preponderance for such devices to be incapable of deploying a plurality of hats in any desired attitude ranging from a substantially vertical to horizontal positions and any angular positions therebetween.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a clothing suspension apparatus capable of deploying a cap in any desired attitude for the purpose of exposing the brow portion thereof for display and which is capable of performing a variety of other useful functions, the device being both inexpensive to manufacture and to sell and capable of relatively easy usage and installation.